


Destiny Says A Lot Of Things

by Hollow_Whisperings



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Camelot, Crack Treated Seriously, Druids, Fate & Destiny, Gen, Hero Worship, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Kid Fic, Kid Mordred (Merlin), Merlin is So Done (Merlin), One Shot, POV Merlin (Merlin), Screw Destiny, Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:28:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22523254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hollow_Whisperings/pseuds/Hollow_Whisperings
Summary: Everything Merlin has ever been told regarding himself, Arthur, and Destiny is thrown into chaos when a  routine patrol sees the return of Merlin's greatest fear right into the heart of Camelot: Mordred, the druid destined to slay the one whom Merlin holds most dear, prophecised as "Arthur's Bane".Between Kilgharrah's warnings and Morgana's nightmares, portents of prophecy have grown overwhelmingly since Mordred came to court, invited to become one of Arthur's very own knights......as soon as he can see over a training shield and hold up a pike instead of dragging it, that is.For, rather embarassingly, Mordred's returning to Arthur and Merlin's lives seems to have happened... somewhat earlier than expected. It's a lot more difficult to harden your heart against your sworn nemesis, magical kin they may be, when said nemesis looks up to you and has decided you're their new big brother, after all.Or, kid!Mordred, Squire of Camelot.
Relationships: Kilgharrah & Merlin (Merlin), Merlin & Mordred (Merlin)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 308





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this, like all fanfic i attempt to write, will probably end up being crack.

Mordred. Arthur's Bane. The root of many of Merlin's non-execution based nightmares. The druid boy destined to end the life of the man Merlin had devoted his life to protecting, the man Merlin would happily serve unto the end of his days, the man Merlin saw as his greatest... something!

Mordred, destroyer of Albion; Mordred, would-be murderer; Mordred, the-

\- so very, very tiny.

Merlin had envisioned the day he would, again, lay eyes upon the druid boy he had once rescued from Uther's indiscriminate hatred of magic to have been... later.

They would meet on the eve of battle, man to man, and Merlin would strike him down as he had Nimueh before him before Mordred could so much as touch Arthur, their king. Not a mere year or so after their first encounter, Mordred barely taller and somehow even smaller than when last they'd met.

Yet, here he was! In the flesh! Dusty and dirt-faced, swimming in Arthur's knightly cloak, eyes huge in wonder and looking all about the place - Merlin himself seeming to be of greatest interest to the boy - as he stuffed sweet pastries into his mouth like a man starved.

He had jam all over his fingers and there was a great big blue goop ready to fall off his chin and straight onto-

-Arthur's cloak. Arthur's red cloak that Merlin had only laundered last week! And, given the way Morgana and Gwen were giggling at Merlin's outrage - Gwen! She of all people ought to have understood how dire a blackberry stain could be! -, Merlin doubted anyone was going to let him talk Sense into them.

He wouldn't even need to bring up prophecy! They'd all recognised the boy upon his returning with the patrol - all except Arthur, apparently, who was still smarting at his life being saved by a child - and not a one of them had realised how dangerous his presence was!

Uther, thankfully, hadn't recognised the boy as an escapee from the stake when he'd "honoured" Mordred's risk of life and limb for Prince Arthur's sake but surely the girls could see, if not that he was a danger to Arthur, that Mordred's life would be constantly under threat by his very nature? Hello? Druid? Did no one else remember why they'd ferried Mordred from Camelot in the first place?!

"Oh, you've grown since we saw you last! Look how tall you've gotten!"

Morgana cooed over the druid boy as she squished his cheeks in-between pastries, delicately dabbing crumbs and sticky leftovers away with a kerchief as she did so.

Mordred ducked his head, hiding his face behind another pastry so his smile couldn't be seen, though his cheek ripened with dimples and the attempt had only convinced Morgana to preen over him further. Gwen had gone to the effort of gathering another damp cloth to better clean Mordred up - "another" because Merlin, despite his growing dread (and headache: he could somehoe feel Kilgharrah's fury at Merlin's not immediately killing a child, in cold blood, right in front of King Uther's ward, Gwen, Gaius, and The Crown Prat himself), was crouched at Mordred's level and wiping blood from tiny skinned knees before wrapping them in fresh linens.

Gaius, frowning, had pottered off to see how serious Uther had been about appointing his son's "saviour" (Merlin had been right there! Mordred's presencd had barely helped at all!) as squire - Uther had made clear his opinions on the rights of nobility to such roles abundant with his attitudes toward Lancelot, for knighthood, and Gwen, for courtship, so the sudden turn in Mordred's favour was Suspect at the least.

Prince Arthur had awkwardly patted Mordred on the back (it had nearly seen the boy off his feet) before muttering that he had a reputation to recover and promptly summoning his knights for an impromptu "sparring" session (two knights had already come and gone, requesting bruise ointment with their eyes alone: Merlin, familiar with Arthur's attentions, had solemnly found solidarity with the men). Now it was only Merlin, the girls, and a tiring Mordred in Gaius's chambers. Morgana dominated any conversation, Gwen chiming in every now and again, with Merlin silently fuming but feigning concern and Mordred tactfully chewing rather than bringing up just why, exactly, Morgana might know how much he'd grown.

Annoyingly, Merlin could feel Mordred at the edge of his mind, not quite saying anything but not leaving him be either. If Merlin didn't have Kilgharrah mentally shrieking at him, and were Mordred only the young druid child he seemed rather than Merlin'd fated foe... Merlin would almost think the boy was doing the telepathic equivalent of tugging at Merlin's sleeve for attention.

The prospect was cute and, thus, highly alarming because Mordred was dangerous, a threat to Merlin's destiny, set to kill Arthur and... apparently falling asleep.

Mordred had, somehow, nodded off mid-munch. Gwen chuckled and gently eased the last of Mordred's meal from his mouth and onto the table. She prompted Merlin - finished with treatment - with the cloth she held and, despite himself, Merlin was idly wiping at the last of Mordred's blackberry "massacre" and then patting the boy dry with his own neckerchief.

Morgana had hastily risen to her feet and to the doorway, laughter threatening to burst from her smiling eyes and mouth, attempting to let Mordred be but reluctant to let the lad out of sight just yet.

Gwen, collecting the soiled cloths, finally shifted Mordred so Merlin could get Arthur's jam-ridden cloak off and into Gwen's laundry basket before sweeping from the room, tugging Morgana away with her with a murmured,"good night".

Merlin, alone with his sworn nemesis... relented at the soft snufflings as Mordred shifted to sleep more comfortably, shed his coat to drape upon the boy - lest he catch chill afore he callously killed the finest knight in the five kingdoms by sneezing at him or something similarly anticlimactic - and mentally urged Kilgharrah to shut it until Mordred was grown enough not to absentmindedly nuzzle at Merlin's hand as he tucked a sleeve under him.

In the meanwhile, Merlin was going to bed. Hopefully, come morning, everything would reveal itself as nought but a belly of old cheese. A twelve year old child, sworn to the knights of the realm, chasing Merlin for magic lessons between quintains! If Arthur couldn't survive long enough for Mordred to hit puberty, clearly neither he nor Merlin were meant for Once And Futures after all!


	2. Settling In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a bit like stepping back into his own past but, this time, Merlin's the grumpy mentor, known of through vague childhood stories, and Mordred's the wide-eyed youth stumbling into danger, seemingly at every turn.

If only he had Gaius's ability to inflict a sense of deep disappointment via a single eyebrow, Merlin thought. Perhaps then Mordred would _stop talking about magic all the time._

"Merlin! Merlin," cried The Bane Of Merlin's Existence.

"Did you know? Arthur said-"

" _Prince_ Arthur, Mordred! And what have I told you about yelling from the hallways?!"

A pout, cheeks round and squishable, far too... _cute_ an expression for the person single-handedly responsible for the past month of Merlin's night terrors.

Merlin scowled, hurrying the druid boy into Gaius's chambers, and slamming the door shut. He then bolted it for good measure.

"But it wasn't even anything about magic-"

"MORDRED! Are you _trying to get us all killed?!"_

"...sorry, Emrys."

Merlin forced himself from shouting - _again_ \- at the small, ignorant child who had, once again, deferred to Merlin only with his Very Suspiciously Magic-ky Title.

He can't help it, Merlin told himself, he's grown up talking mind-to-mind his whole life: to Mordred, magic was an everyday fact of life and the illusion of safety that hinged on the hiding of magic- _anything_ was difficult to remember when not actively chased down by armed guards.

And, infuriatingly, the boy had decided that, even were he to invite suspicion and investigation by Camelot's knights (or, worse, _Uther_ ), all would be well because _Emrys could fix anything._ Mordred's... awe of Merlin _grated._ He rushed to praise the simplest "kindnesses" ( _"Merlin shared a whole pastry with me! And, then, he gave me another like it was nothing!"_ "So _that's_ where the rest of my breakfast disappeared to, _Mer_ lin. I'm sure you, picture of charity that you are, won't mind _sharing_ supper with my hounds. Who you'll be cleaning the kennels of. Tonight."), tripped over himself to be "helpful" to (Gaius had been horrified at Mordred's "helping" with The Leech Tank: Merlin had spent a sleepless night scrambling for a countercurse, only barely managing it before anyone came a-knocking for the Court Physician's services), and _getting praised for it all while Merlin's_ (rightful!) _indignation earned condemnatiom from every woman in Camelot!_

Only Gwen _really_ understood the lengths Merlin went to, putting out fires - often literally -in the child's wake. Unfortunately, Gwen didn't realise the _scale_ of those fires and Merlin couldn't confide in her without risking her, his, and every other person "harbouring" the boy's lives to the pyre.

At this point, honestly, Merlin was exhausted enough to think that telling Gwen about his magic (something he had never, ever done) might be less dangerous than Merlin's sole confidant being an imprisoned, possibly insane dragon whose every response to Merlin's complaints of The Boy amounted to, " _DO NOT SUFFER THE BOY TO LIVE! KILL HIM BEFORE HE KILLS US ALL!_ ".

(Merlin, infuriated as he often was, still couldn't bring himself to so much as _fantasize_ throttling Mordred - he was, after all, just a boy)

" Emrys? Emrys, I'm sorry for yelling. I'll remember not to, I promise! I was only going to say that Arth- _Prince_ Arthur said you I was getting better enough that, next training, he's letting me use _a real sword_! He even said he'd bring _you_ to practise with! He said you and him would show me a real fight! Emr- Merlin? Why did you just set the table on fire?"

 _Maybe_ , Merlin thought, _maybe I should just hand myself to Uther for sorcery right now._ The dungeons might be quite nice, this time of year.

**Author's Note:**

> ...if anyone wants to take this premise off my hands, link me: a Proper kid!Mordred AU is clearly beyond my abilities.


End file.
